In Space, Less is More

To help NASA make the most of shrinking budgets, SwRI has
developed a family of miniaturized computers and instruments that are as much as 95
percent smaller than comparable systems.

Size and weight are critical factors in spaceflight missions,
affecting launch costs in particular. The 5,000-pound Cassini satellite requires a Titan
IV launch vehicle at $600 million. A 50-pound satellite, such as the Pluto Express, can be
launched by a Delta vehicle at one-tenth the cost, or $60 million.

To meet the requirements imposed by smaller spacecraft, SwRI
funded an internal research and development program that has produced the first in a
family of miniature 32-bit processors designed to control spaceflight systems and
experiments. The Miniaturized Optimized Processor for Space (shown below), known as MOPS,
measures a mere 27 cubic inches and delivers 25 million instructions per second. MOPS is a
full-capacity, high-performance spaceflight computer comparable in power to current
machines that are 300 cubic inches in size; MOPS is a fraction of that size, a reduction
of almost 95 percent.

"To produce MOPS, we developed a novel packaging
technique," says Dr. Joseph Barfield, director of the Space Systems Department.
"Because we needed the standard printed circuit board surface area to mount chips, we
developed a flexible board that is essentially folded into a tiny package." Unlike
previous systems, these diminutive boxes don't require a large, dedicated area of the
spacecraft; they can be tucked into small spaces.

MOPS is one percent the size of the Institute's first
spaceflight computer, the SC-1 developed in the early 1980s, and is 50 times more
powerful. The new processor is under consideration for several future spaceflight
missions.

In addition, SwRI is using internal funding to develop small,
low-cost and low-power space sensors. The Miniaturized Optimized Smart Sensor (MOSS), a
small, low-power mass spectrometer, measures the mass and velocity of atoms and molecules,
using less than one third the power of an equivalent instrument.

In cooperation with Westinghouse, the Institute is developing
an even smaller sensor, a mass spectrometer on a chip (MASC). MASC is expected to weigh
less than 600 grams while providing the performance of instruments 10 times its size.

See Pluto
Express Will Pack Light for a detailed description of another spacecraft instrument
designed to reduce weight, power, and cost -- the Highly Integrated Pluto Payload
Stystem,
or HIPPS.

Wolfe Named ASME Fellow

George K. Wolfe, assistant director of the Marine Technology
Department and manager of energy equipment development in the Materials and Structures
Division, has been elected a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
(ASME).

He received the honor in recognition of his work in the
advancement of pressure vessel technology for both human occupancy submersibles and
submarine models for the U.S. Navy. He helped establish the Institute as a
high-technology, high-quality fabrication facility for ASME pressure vessels and U.S. Navy
model construction used for hydrodynamic and shock testing.

Since joining the Institute in 1970, Wolfe has been responsible
for directing all test and development programs involving offshore equipment and large
structures such as submarine hulls.

He holds a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering from
California State Polytechnic University and is a registered professional engineer in the
state of Texas.

Wolfe was formally recognized as a Fellow at the ASME Petroleum
Division Awards luncheon held January 30, 1996, in Houston.

Pluto Express Will Pack Light

A team of scientists and engineers from across the United
States has designed, built, and completed testing of a lightweight, low cost, low power,
multispectral remote sensing instrument package for NASA's proposed Pluto Express mission.
Southwest Research Institute is the home institution of this new payload, termed HIPPS
(Highly Integrated Pluto Payload System).

Pluto, the most distant planet in our solar system, remains
unexamined. NASA is expected to launch the Pluto Express spacecraft toward Pluto and its
large satellite, Charon, between 2001 and 2003. The three instrument components within
HIPPS were chosen and designed to accomplish all the prime science objectives set forth by
NASA and its advisory committees for the Pluto Express mission. These include
characterization of the morphology and composition of both Pluto and Charon, an in-depth
study of Pluto's unique atmosphere, and a search for small satellites.

The compact instrument package is a direct response to the
challenge posed by NASA and the planetary science community to conduct focused science
missions using smaller, cheaper, and highly integrated spacecraft.

Enclosed in an aluminum box about a cubic foot in volume, HIPPS
contains a sensitive visible imaging camera, a sophisticated infrared (IR) mapping
spectrometer, an imaging ultraviolet spectrograph, and supporting electronics. The total
weight of HIPPS is less than 12 pounds, and the total power required is less than 4 watts.
This contrasts sharply with instrument payloads of the late 1980s that had similar
capabilities, but were large, heavy, and consumed as much as 95 watts of power.

HIPPS was designed to reduce spacecraft and instrument mass,
power, and cost by eliminating unnecessary redundancy between spacecraft and instrument
capabilities and by using modern technology. "HIPPS is able to achieve its high
performance at low cost by incorporating innovative technologies in its design,"
notes Dr. Alan Stern, manager of Geophysical, Astrophysical, and Planetary Sciences in
SwRI's Instrumentation and Space Research Division and principal investigator of HIPPS.

As an example, the Goddard-designed HIPPS IR imaging
spectrometer uses linear variable etalon filter technology to create a
"spectrometer-on-a-chip" that weighs less than 1.5 pounds. The three instrument
components of HIPPS share a single integrated optical bench. Also, innovative detector
techniques such as a time-delay integration camera are being used to reduce payload size
and weight and to meld payload and spacecraft functions. The HIPPS housing, as well as its
optics, is constructed from monolithic, diamond-turned aluminum, which makes the
instrument athermal, lightweight, and inexpensive. Mission operations complexity and costs
are reduced by the absence of any moving parts, and the microprocessor electronics are
incorporated into the walls of the instrument, eliminating conventional computer boards.

Professor Carolyn Porco of the University of Arizona, a former
member of the Voyager team and principal investigator for NASA's Cassini Imaging team, is
responsible for the HIPPS imaging science investigation. "HIPPS represents a major
departure from the design philosophies of yesteryear embodied in spacecraft like Voyager
and Cassini," she says. "Using conventional materials in creative and
unconventional ways, the HIPPS team has succeeded in creating an inexpensive instrument
that is ideal either for a first-time reconnaissance mission like the Pluto Express or the
kind of highly focused science missions on the docket for future planetary
exploration." Applications of HIPPS and subsequent derivatives are likely to include
detailed examinations of comets and asteroids, studies of Mars, and a proposed look at
Earth from orbit.

The engineers and scientists working with SwRI to design and
build HIPPS are from Ball Aerospace in Boulder, Colorado; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
in Greenbelt, Maryland; Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona; the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology in Boston; the University of Arizona in Tucson; the University of
Michigan in Ann Arbor; and the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, Virginia.

SwRI Named Ford Tier 1 Product Development Engineering Service Supplier

Southwest Research Institute has been selected by the Ford
Motor Company as a Tier One Preferred Supplier for engineering services.

"Providing more comprehensive service to Ford through this
special business relationship is a great opportunity for us," says Dr. Jay M.
Lewallen, vice president for Planning and Program Development at SwRI. The Institute has
worked on many projects for Ford and has extensive, industry-recognized technical
strengths in engineering, design, and testing areas related to automotive vehicles and
engines.

The Ford Tier One Preferred Supplier program was designed to
develop a world class engineering service supply base for the automotive leader. Business
agreements between Ford and preferred suppliers will simplify, streamline, and reduce the
costs of engineering services required by Ford's product development operations.

Faster than a Speeding Bullet: High-Speed Imaging

Southwest Research Institute has acquired an ultra high-speed
imaging system that records up to six frames at a rate of 100 million frames per second.

John P. Riegel, manager of ballistics engineering in SwRI's
Materials and Structures Division, says the new camera is being applied to ballistic
events that range from simulated bird impacts on aircraft to evaluations of spacecraft
shielding effectiveness against orbital debris. Both cases illustrate the use of
ballistics research to help prevent loss of life and millions of dollars in damage.

The IMACON 468 system has exposure durations as short as 10
nanoseconds, or 10 billionths of a second. To illustrate the incredibly fast speeds
involved in some events, Riegel explains that a specially designed shaped charge is used
to produce a projectile that moves 36,000 feet (about 7 miles) in one second when
launched. The projectile, which borrows on technology used by the military, is used to
simulate impacts on spacecraft. With the new camera, the projectile moves only
four-thousands of an inch during each exposure, making it possible to obtain critical
information about the projectile and its effects on proposed shielding materials.

The imaging system is the first of its type in the United
States. It relies on microchannel plate intensifiers and charged coupled devices to create
images, which are transferred to a PC through fiber optic cables for electronic
processing. The transfer takes about two seconds, making images available for viewing
immediately following a test.

Springer Elected to National Academy of Engineering

Karl J. Springer, vice president of the Automotive Products and
Emissions Research Division at SwRI, has been elected to the National Academy of
Engineering (NAE). Election to the NAE is among the highest professional distinctions
accorded an engineer.

Springer received the honor for his contribution to the design
of measurement and control systems to reduce smoke, odor, and other pollutants from diesel
and gasoline engines. The appointment was formally announced February 14, 1996, by NAE
President Harold Liebowitz. The induction ceremony will take place October 2, 1996, in
Washington, D.C.

Springer's career at the Institute began in 1957 and includes
more than 30 years of leadership in automotive emissions research. He is internationally
known for his pioneering efforts in control of air pollution from all types of motor
vehicles. As vice president of the Automotive Products and Emissions Research Division, he
oversees a staff of almost 700 engaged in research, testing, and evaluation of diesel and
gasoline engine lubricants, fuels, fluids, emissions, and components for automotive,
truck, bus, and tractor products.

Springer holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering
from Texas A&M University and a master's degree in physics from Trinity University,
and has authored 38 peer-reviewed technical papers and publications. He is a registered
professional engineer in the state of Texas, a Fellow of the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers, a Fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers, and a Diplomate of
the American Academy of Environmental Engineers. In 1993, he was named to the Academy of
Distinguished Mechanical Engineering Graduates at Texas A&M University.

Published in the Spring 1996 issue of Technology
Today®, published by Southwest Research Institute. For more information, contact
Joe
Fohn.